1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mobile terminals. More particularly, the present invention relates to caching advertising information in a mobile terminal to enhance remote synchronization and wireless Internet browsing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Mobile terminals, such as handheld computers, cellular phones, tablet computers, etc., may be used to browse Internet web sites by connecting to the Internet directly, or by viewing web pages that have been cached in the local memory of the mobile terminal during a synchronization session. FIG. 1 shows a prior art configuration for synchronizing a mobile terminal 2 to a target computer 4 over a direct, wired connection 6 (e.g., a USB connection). The target computer 4 downloads web pages from selected web sites off the Internet and transmits the web pages to the mobile terminal 2. The user is then able to view the web pages on the mobile terminal 2 while away from the target computer, such as while traveling. However, the web pages stored in the mobile terminal 2 may eventually become outdated and need to be refreshed through another synchronization session with the target computer 4. If the user is away from the target computer 4, the mobile terminal 2 must be synchronized remotely.
FIG. 2 shows prior art configurations for remotely synchronizing the mobile terminal 2 to the target computer 4 via the Internet 8. In one configuration, the mobile terminal 2 accesses the Internet 8 over a wired connection 10 (e.g., telephone lines) and an Internet service provider (ISP) 12. In another configuration, the mobile terminal 2 accesses the Internet over a wireless network such as a cellular provider network (CPN) 14 or a short range wireless access point (WAP) 15, such as Bluetooth, 802.11b, or HomeRF. In either case the bandwidth of the communication channel is typically much less as compared to the bandwidth of the direct, wired connection as in FIG. 1, thereby increasing the latency in accessing the data as well as decreasing battery life. Further, a CPN 14 typically charges a higher connection fee. It is therefore desirable to minimize the amount of information exchanged between the mobile terminal 2 and the target computer 4 when synchronizing remotely in order to minimize the synchronization time, conserve battery power, and minimize the connection fees.
Similarly, it is desirable to minimize the amount of information transmitted to the mobile terminal 2 while browsing the Internet over a low bandwidth (and potentially expensive) connection such as a wireless connection. The prior art has suggested to cache static information associated with a web site within the mobile terminal 2 and transmit only the dynamic information to reduce the amount of data transmitted to the mobile terminal. However, advertising information in this context is considered dynamic information since it is updated on a periodic basis (e.g., banner ads are rotated).
FIG. 3 illustrates a prior art mobile terminal displaying advertising information in the form of banner ads 16A and 16B which may be any geometric shape (e.g., rectangular or square) and which typically comprise an image such as a .JPG or .GIF image file. When the user clicks on the banner ad, a web page is displayed having information related to the product or services advertised. Although the banner ads are typically compressed, they contain a relatively large number of bytes as compared to other web page content such as text. Banner ads are also evolving into larger formats with richer content such as animated .GIF files, which consume even more memory. The click-through rate of banner ads is also typically very low (e.g., less than two percent) although still high enough to justify the expense for advertisers. Thus, bandwidth is consumed to transmit the banner ads to the mobile terminal during a remote synchronization or wireless browsing session even though a majority of the time the user will not click on the banner ads.
Yet another drawback associated with banner ads is the delay associated with downloading the banner ads from banner servers. Many Internet web sites use an advertising agency to xe2x80x9cservexe2x80x9d the banner ads with the site""s content. This minimizes the overhead associated with managing banner ads while still generating revenue for the web site. Each time the web site displays a web page, a banner ad is downloaded from a banner server of the advertising agency and displayed within the web page. However, the banner servers are often saturated with thousands of requests to serve banner ads, thereby delaying the transmission of the web page to the user.
There is, therefore, a need to enhance the performance in transmitting information to a mobile terminal, particularly with respect to synchronizing remotely or browsing the Internet wirelessly, so as to minimize the access latency, conserve battery power, and minimize connection fees.
The present invention may be regarded as a method of operating a mobile terminal comprising a local memory and a screen. During a synchronization session advertising information comprising a plurality of banner ads is received over a first connection and stored in the local memory of the mobile terminal. A web page is received over a second connection, wherein the web page comprises web page content including a banner ad display area for displaying a banner ad. During a first time interval, a first one of the banner ads is retrieved from the local memory and the web page content is displayed on the screen of the mobile terminal together with the first one of the banner ads in the banner ad display area. During a second time interval, a second one of the banner ads is retrieved from the local memory and the web page content is displayed on the screen of the mobile terminal together with the second one of the banner ads in the banner ad display area.
In one embodiment the first connection operates at a first bandwidth, the second connection operates at a second bandwidth, and the first bandwidth is substantially greater than the second bandwidth. For example, in one embodiment the first connection comprises a wired connection and the second connection comprises a wireless connection
In yet another embodiment the advertising information comprises advertising display criteria for displaying the advertising information within the web page content. In an alternative embodiment the web page further comprises advertising display criteria for displaying the advertising information within the web page content.
In one embodiment during the synchronization session personal information management (PIM) data is transmitted to the remote terminal.
In one embodiment the plurality of banner ads are displayed with the web page content in a predetermined rotation. In one embodiment, a type indicator is associated with each banner ad wherein the type indicator is used to select a banner ad from the local memory for display with the web page content.
In one embodiment the web page is transmitted to the mobile terminal over the second connection during a subsequent synchronization session. In an alternative embodiment the web page is transmitted to the mobile terminal over the second connection during a browsing session.
In one embodiment during the synchronization session the inventory of advertising information stored in the local memory of the mobile terminal is evaluated, and updated advertising information is selectively transmitted to the mobile terminal relative to the inventory of advertising information. In one embodiment the updated advertising information displaces outdated advertising information stored on the mobile terminal.
In another embodiment, the local memory of the mobile terminal stores tracking information identifying the advertising information retrieved from the local memory and displayed with the web page content, wherein the tracking information is transmitted from the mobile terminal to a target computer. In one embodiment, the tracking information further comprises click-through data indicating a click-through rate for the advertising information displayed with the web page content.
In yet another embodiment, the advertising information comprises linked web pages wherein during the synchronization session, the linked web pages are transmitted to the mobile terminal over the first connection and stored in the local memory.
The present invention may also be regarded as a mobile terminal for communicating with a target computer. The mobile terminal comprises a local memory for storing advertising information comprising a plurality of banner ads received from the target computer over a first connection during a synchronization session, and a screen. The mobile terminal further comprises a terminal controller for receiving a web page over a second connection, wherein the web page comprises web page content including a banner ad display area for displaying a banner ad. During a first time interval, a first one of the banner ads is retrieved from the local memory and the web page content is displayed on the screen of the mobile terminal together with the first one of the banner ads in the banner ad display area. During a second time interval, a second one of the banner ads is retrieved from the local memory and the web page content is displayed on the screen of the mobile terminal together with the second one of the banner ads in the banner ad display area.
The present invention may also be regarded as a computer program embodied on a computer readable storage medium for use in a mobile terminal comprising a local memory and a screen. The computer program comprises code segments for:
during a synchronization session, receiving advertising information comprising a plurality of banner ads over a first connection and storing the advertising information in the local memory of the mobile terminal;
receiving a web over a second connection, wherein the web page comprises web page content including a banner ad display area for displaying a banner ad;
during a first time interval, retrieving a first one of the banner ads from the local memory and displaying the web page content on the screen of the mobile terminal together with the first one of the banner ads in the banner ad display area; and
during a second time interval, retrieving a second one of the banner ads from the local memory and displaying the web page content on the screen of the mobile terminal together with the second one of the banner ads in the banner ad display area.
The present invention may also be regarded as a method of transmitting data to a mobile terminal, the mobile terminal comprising a local memory and a screen. During a synchronization session, advertising information comprising a plurality of banner ads is transmitted to the mobile terminal over a first connection, wherein the local memory of the mobile terminal is for storing the advertising information. A web page is transmitted to the mobile terminal over a second connection, wherein the web page comprises web page content including a banner ad display area. The screen of the mobile terminal is for displaying the web page content, wherein the banner ad display area is for displaying a first one of the banner ads retrieved from the local memory of the mobile terminal during a first time interval and for displaying a second one of the banner ads retrieved from the local memory of the mobile terminal during a second time interval.
The present invention may also be regarded as computer program embodied on a computer readable storage medium for transmitting data to a mobile terminal, the mobile terminal comprising a local memory and a screen. The computer program comprises code segments for:
during a synchronization session, transmitting advertising information comprising a plurality of banner ads to the mobile terminal over a first connection, wherein the local memory of the mobile terminal is for storing the advertising information; and
transmitting a web page to the mobile terminal over a second connection, wherein:
the web page comprises web page content including a banner ad display area;
the screen of the mobile terminal is for displaying the web page content; and
the banner ad display area is for displaying a first one of the banner ads retrieved from the local memory of the mobile terminal during a first time interval and for displaying a second one of the banner ads retrieved from the local memory of the mobile terminal during a second time interval.